


in the heart of a machine

by GremlinGirl



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Heart, M/M, Possibly Disturbing Language, Sci-Fi, Slight hints at a type of abuse, Technobabble I barely understand myself, Technology, Texting, Week 7, i don't wanna give away a lot in the tags, kyluxxoxo, room, text
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 17:58:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15712221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GremlinGirl/pseuds/GremlinGirl
Summary: Armitage Hux works at the largest tech company in the country, and he has big plans for the future of First Order Tech. When a strange person, only going by their username KYLOREN, contacts him, he uncovers something slightly more sinister than a simple publicity stunt.





	in the heart of a machine

Without a doubt, the worst thing about coming home from work was the empty house. Hux had inherited it from his father, and he’d moved in just to get out of the grimey city. It was about eight miles outside the city limits, sitting on its own little plot of land that was surrounded by trees. He’d grown up here, and the creaking front door was a welcome sound as he headed inside. Flicking on the lights, Hux found himself bathed in yellow light from the flickering bulb overhead. The house was certainly like something out of a horror movie. Secluded, dark, and looming, it just seemed like the kind of place that ghosts would flock to.

 

But, it was just a normal house, really. He knew that teenagers drove out past it and into the surrounding woods to drink sometimes, but that was the most eventful thing that happened out there. And just like his father, Hux ruminate in the seclusion of it all, pretending not to be lonely, and pretending that loneliness didn’t turn him cold and hard.

 

He locked up behind him, then headed in and peeked around into the kitchen to make sure Millicent's food bowl still had food in it. She looked like she hadn’t touched it all day, which wasn’t unusual. His beautiful fat cat usually didn’t eat until after he was home, choosing instead to curl up in the center of his bed to nap the day away.

 

Hux took the stairs two at a time and pushed into his room, flipping on the light with a sigh, then he glanced over to where Millicent was sitting up and blinking at him. “Hey, pretty girl,” he cooed, walking over as he kicked off his shoes. Hux laid out beside her, scritching at her ears and under her chin as she let out a purr that was loud enough to sound more like a lawnmower. He would have laid there and pet her for awhile, but his phone buzzed in his pocket. Sighing, he pulled it out to read the message.

 

 **PolishedChrome:** u get home alright?  
**GenerallyHux:** yeah, good. u?

 **PolishedChrome:** yeah im good. Dont forget the office party this weekend.

 **GenerallyHux:** fuck.

 

He swept a hand back through his hair, sitting up and looking at his phone screen for a moment. He’d completely forgotten about that, he supposed. A few big clients would be there on Saturday to celebrate a new contract that had been signed. First Order Tech stayed on the cutting edge of whatever new tech came out. They had their fingers in all the pots, and Hux knew how important it was to have him there to field attention away from all the mousy computer techs. He worked with integrating new technologies into their brand, and he was crucial to help meet and greet clients as they began the synthesis.

 

Truly, he usually just forgot about these things as soon as he put them on his calendar. That’s why he had Phas, at least. She was his secretary, essentially, but far be it from him to ever call her that. She did much more than push paperwork and answer calls. And they’d been friends since college.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** i completely forgot thanks for reminding me

 **PolishedChrome:** thts my job. U want me to come pick u up? Or maybe u have a date?

 **GenerallyHux:** u know good and well i don’t have a date

 **PolishedChrome:** Just asking.

 

The mention of a date doubled his already ruined mood, and Hux threw his phone down on the comforter as he stood up. Walking to the bathroom, he started running water to take a shower, taking off his shirt and pants, tossing them into the hamper before he bent down to remove his socks. Before he could, he heard his phone buzzing again, and thinking it had to be Phasma again, headed out to check it.

 

The message wasn’t from Phasma, in their usual chat. Instead, a new message had popped up from a name that Hux didn’t recognize. KYLOREN. He blinked a few times, then clicked on the profile picture, wondering who it was, and instead of being greeted with a face, all he saw was a six pack and firm pectorals. His immediate thought screamed at him to just...ignore this person and go take his shower, but...he looked at the message anyway.

 

 **KYLOREN:** hey! I saw the pics you took at the last consumer electronics show. Did you enjoy that event?

The message was a little odd. The International Consumer Electronics Show had taken place in late January, months and months ago. Anything relevant he’d picked up there was already old news in his line of work, so this person obviously wasn’t asking in relation to some sort of business venture. He didn’t think he’d posted anything about the one upcoming next year, either.  
  
**GenerallyHux:** i did. Saw a lot of interesting stuff. r u looking to get a booth for next year?

 **KYLOREN:** maybe my boss will!

 **GenerallyHux:** who’s ur boss? Do I know him?

 **KYLOREN:** Dr. Snoke. He works in electronics.

 **GenerallyHux:** yes, I figured.

 

Odd, sure, but he didn’t think much about it. Dropping his phone, uninterested, Hux sauntered back into the bathroom and stripped the rest of the way. He got into the shower, being as efficient as possible. He’d finish up here, then grab himself some tea and sit to read for a few minutes. He was tired of dealing with everything, and if he was going to have to get ready for the party on Saturday, he needed to get up early in the morning to send a tux in for dry cleaning and pressing and arrange transportation. He should have already done all of this, but...he’d forgotten.

 

Stepping out of the shower, Hux wrapped up in a towel and padded back into his bedroom. Millicent had moved over to sit on top of his dresser, and he scratched under her chin for a moment before he dug out underwear and some sweatpants to put on. The house was a bit chilly, even in August, so he dragged out a long sleeve t-shirt as well, throwing it on before rubbing his hair with the towel for a few moments. The phone buzzed again. He tossed the towel over into the bathroom hamper, then climbed up on the bed and picked it up. There were four messages, stretched out by a few minutes each.

 

 **KYLOREN:** i thought to contact u because i saw ur photo

 **KYLOREN:** the one u took at the consumer electronics show

 **KYLOREN:** are u going to anymore technology exhibitions this year?

 **KYLOREN:** i enjoy technology exhibitions that showcase new technologies

 

Hux furrowed his brow a little. It was...well, the man’s tone was strange. He hadn’t really come across anyone that talked like this, especially over chat. He didn’t really know what to think, but the questions were innocent enough. He still wasn’t sure why the man had contacted him, other than to talk about...technology it seemed. Hux shook his head as he responded.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** im going to the conference for high performance networking storage and analysis in Nov.

 **KYLOREN:** what is that?

 **GenerallyHux:** it’s just a conference of the leading tech for companies who need to use large scale data processors, really. Or that’s why i have to go anyway. for my work

 **KYLOREN:** what is your work?

 

Hux blinked, then looked over at Millicent for a second. She just stared back at him, as if judging him. It did seem strange to him that this KYLOREN character wanted to know where he worked, since that was clearly listed on his profile. If the man had been scouring his page long enough to dig up a photo that had been taken in January, surely he would have seen his job listing. It occurred to Hux that he might be talking to a child, but that went out the window when he remembered the profile picture again. Very odd.

 

 **GenerallyHux** : at First Order Tech. where do u work?

 **KYLOREN:** Dr. Snoke is my boss.  
**GenerallyHux:** yeah but where do u work at?  
**KYLOREN:** with Dr. Snoke.

 

Hux chewed on his lip as he read the last message, and he sighed a little. Maybe the guy didn’t speak English as his first language and was struggling to translate in his head. Or something. Hux wasn’t sure. Sighing, he looked over at the clock. It was only nine-thirty, and there was nothing better to do. He figured that entertaining himself with this odd little man would at least pass the hours until he was ready to pass out.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** What kind of job do you have?  
**KYLOREN:** i am communications.

 

Truly, Hux laughed out loud at that. The idea of this awkward person was in anyway related to communications at his place of work honestly tickled him. Millicent jumped over to the bed as Hux settled back against the pillows, crawling up onto his lap. He stroked her gently, typing with one hand.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** important job in the tech field. U are in the tech field right?

 **KYLOREN:** yeah i am technology

 **GenerallyHux:** this is your personal profile, though?  
**KYLOREN:** i only have one profile. Only one KYLO

 **GenerallyHux:** yeah, I only have one too. Lots of people i work with have personal and business ones separated tho

 **KYLOREN:** that is like lying

 

Struck by that, Hux thought for a moment. It seemed, maybe a little drastic, but Kylo was at least a little correct. Putting on a facade on social media, projecting only the best of your life. It was a bit like wearing a mask and saying something is true, when really the opposite was happening. And the people who kept parts of their lives separated by flimsy passwords and trusting in a business’s inability to dig around to find their dirty secrets, were really only lying to themselves and everybody else. It was like lying. Hux had just never thought of it that way before.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** yeah, ur right. I’m glad there’s only one KYLO.

 **KYLOREN:** u don’t know me well  
**GenerallyHux:** no ur right. But u seem smart. In a special way.

 **KYLOREN:** what is ur special way?  
**GenerallyHux:** my what?

 **KYLOREN:** if i am smart in a special way what is ur special way?

 

His hand stilled in Millicent’s fur, and Hux slowly set down the phone. He didn’t know what to say back, and truly, he didn’t know if he wanted to answer that kind of question. To a person he didn’t know. KYLOREN, or whatever. KYLO, he’d seemed to call himself. He was curious, but not sure he liked where the conversation was headed. The last thing he wanted was to get into personal details of his life with someone who put their chest and abs as a profile picture. This wasn’t Grindr for crying out loud.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** I don’t know. Doesn’t matter.  
**KYLOREN:** ok.

 **GenerallyHux:** you back down easy.  
**KYLOREN:** do you want me to not back down easy?

 **GenerallyHux:** i don’t have a preference either way, i guess.

 

And odd feeling crept up the back of his neck, and Hux nearly turned the phone off and tossed it. The more he talked to Kylo, or KYLO, or whatever, the more he got the feeling that something was off about him. But he really couldn’t put his finger on what. And, honestly, he just wanted to end the conversation. He’d thought this could be something to pass the night away, since he felt pretty bored, but it was getting out of hand at this point. Kylo hadn’t said anything particularly creepy that would make him worry, but Hux didn’t want to let it escalate, either. It was his fault for answering in the first place.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** i think i’ll head off to bed now

KYLOREN: does that mean sleeping?  
**GenerallyHux:** yeah sorry i’ve just had a long day  
**KYLOREN:** good night!

 **GenerallyHux:** good night, kylo

 

Hux slipped his phone up onto the bedside table and plugged the charger in. Millicent hopped off his lap when he shifted, giving him a mean look over her shoulder as she headed to the bedroom door. “Don’t glare at me like that,” he told her, standing up to get the lights. The room went dark, and Hux climbed back into bed. A short sight left his lips, and he stared at the phone sitting a few inches away from him. Thinking on it, but not wanting to dwell. He eventually flipped onto his other side to sleep.

 

* * *

 

The screeching alarm woke him up easily the next morning, and Hux sat up and rolled his neck once before he reached over to flick the alarm off. He looked down at the screen, pausing when he saw several new messages displaying. He breathed out a sigh when he saw two were from Phasma, and he opened up their chat without a second thought.

 

 **PolishedChrome:** hey dont worry about getting transport to the party on sat. i got u already

 **Polishedchrome:** u still have to take care of ur own tux tho

 **GenerallyHux:** thanks Phas, ur the best

 **GenerallyHux:** hey have u ever heard of KYLOREN?

 

He didn’t know what prompted him to ask that, but, well, maybe Phasma knew something he didn’t. Maybe they were friends and this Kylo guy had found his profile through them. Though, if Phasma did have a really buff, friendly jock type as a friend and she hadn’t introduced him, Hux would surely be pretty pissed at her.

 

 **PolishedChrome:** no idea what ur talking about

 **PolishedChrome:** is that a new operating system?

 **GenerallyHux:** no no a guy that messaged me last night, asking about the Consumer Electronics Convention or something

 **PolishedChrome:** the one in january?

 **GenerallyHux:** yeah he wanted to ask me about it i guess? Wanted to know if im going to anymore conventions this year

 **PolishedChrome:** weird. Does he work in tech?

 **GenerallyHux:** he said he did. Do you know a doctor smoke? Snoke? Something like that?

 **PolishedChrome:** nope. I’ll poke around and see what i can find

 

Hux almost told her not to bother. The last thing he wanted was to add onto her already strenuous workload with some bullshit wild goose chase that probably wouldn't’ come to anything. But...his curiosity had been piqued the night before, and while he didn’t know if he wanted to interact with this KYLOREN character, Hux did want to know who the hell he was. If only to give himself a piece of mind that, no, he wasn’t being stalked by a sociopath that wanted to carve out his eyes.

 

The phone vibrated in his hand, and Hux looked down and grimaced when he saw exactly who was messaging him again.

 

 **KYLOREN:** Hello morning

 **GenerallyHux:** hey, i can’t really talk right now i’ve got to go to work

 **KYLOREN:** First Order Tech?

 **GenerallyHux:** yeah

 

He furrowed his brow for a moment, then stood up and headed toward the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready for the day. Abandoning his phone on the bedside table again, he heard it vibrate a few more times as he cleaned his face, brushed his teeth, and gelled his hair back into a careful, sleek style. Walking back out of the room, he picked up the phone again, sighing at the messages before opening up the chat again.

 

 **KYLOREN:** then i will talk to you later  
**KYLOREN:** i hope u have a good day  
**KYLOREN:** i will have a good day, too

 

Honestly, they were kind of sweet, but Hux really didn’t plan on talking to the mysterious man again. He really just wanted to forget about him altogether, and would after a few days. Maybe remember enough vaguely to tell his friends about this story in the future. Well, if he had any friends in the future.

 

Hux dressed, and headed out for the day. He didn’t think much about the chat as he went through his usual routine at the office. Poured himself a coffee, headed to Phasma’s office, collected the flashdrive from her containing everything he needed to go over, then slipping into his larger office and taking a seat behind the desk. Hux powered on his computer, laying his phone and the flash drive over to the side as he put in his password. Everything was encrypted, so he had another two passwords to enter before the screen opened all his files, and he was able to stick the flash drive in and use another password to open it up as well. Inside, he found all the reports on each influential member of the tech community that would be at the party on Saturday. He spent the morning ready reports and taking down notes on what he thought would be vital. The importance lied with getting them to agree to official negotiations. First Order Tech always wanted to keep a leg up over the competitors.

 

As he pulled up the last file, he paused and stared for a moment. The image that came up was of an older man, bald and wrinkled, and he didn’t smile in the slightest. The name spelled out beside him: Dr. Snoke. Hux read every last detail about him. He apparently owned his own small business out of Alaska, and he’d been selling encryption software for home desktops for several years. There wasn’t anything remarkable about him, as far as Hux could see. He wasn’t even sure how he’d conned his way onto the guest list, really. Everyone else was innovative, while he seemed to be dwaddling at least two paces behind everybody else. Hux was about to pick up his phone to tell Phasma to come into his office, he read the last sentence on his profile report. It was a quote.

 

“Here at Snoke Technological Research and Development, we’re inspired to take the next leaps and bounds into the future of technology, spreading our influence across all areas including security, data processing, AI, and communications.”

 

Hux tapped gently at his phone screen, thinking as he reread that sentence over and over. There really was nothing special about it at all, and if he hadn’t been messaged by KYLOREN the night before, it wouldn’t have even gave him pause. He felt a bit manipulated, like maybe all this was planned. Snoke had to essentially know that he was coming in to compete with tech giants. He might want something to up the ante. And in comes KYLOREN. Perhaps KYLOREN wasn’t KYLOREN at all, but Snoke himself.

 

Hux picked up his phone and opened up the chat.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** who are you?  
**KYLOREN:** i am KYLO.  
**GenerallyHux:** Yeah, but what’s ur real name. That’s ur username.

 **KYLOREN:** KYLO is my real name

 **GenerallyHux:** and Snoke is just ur boss?  
**KYLOREN:** My boss is Snoke.  
**GenerallyHux:** and REN? what does that mean?

 **KYLOREN:** what?  
**GenerallyHux** : what does REN mean?  
**GenerallyHux:** if your name is KYLO then what does REN mean?

 

There was no answer, and Hux continued to stare at his damn phone for ten minutes. Waiting for some sort of explanation. He didn’t know what he expected to happen, but nothing did. KYLOREN was entirely silent. He turned off the phone and rubbed at his eyes. After a moment, he sent a message for Phasma to come in.

 

“Did you look over these files before you gave them to me?” he asked, glancing toward his screen before looking back at Phasma. The tall woman came and sat down, pressing her hands against her thighs, brow furrowed.

 

“No. No, I didn’t. Is there something wrong with them?”

 

“You know how I told you that someone who works for some...Doctor Snoke contacted me last night?” He waited for her to nod. “Yeah, well he’s going to be at the party. I talked to this Kylo guy again, but I don’t know, he just seems really strange. Like, I asked what the REN in his username meant, but he couldn’t actually give me an answer. Or wouldn’t. I think maybe this is some sort of stunt to pull attention to Snoke before the party, so that I’ll be more interested in whatever he’s bringing to the table. According to the file, he’s only done stuff in basic encryption. Everyone in the business sells pretty much the same software. He’s not doing anything special.”

 

“So why would he get invited?” she asked, essentially finishing his thoughts. “Do you want me to run it up the chain and see if he’s got friends in high places?”

 

Hux hummed thoughtfully, his eyebrow quirking up with thought. “Yes,” he decided. “But do it quietly. And while you’re at it, do a little deep digging on his company. He’s based out of Alaska, according to this. Just...I’ll forward you his file, and you dig up what you can.”

 

“Will do,” she said, standing up and heading out of the room again. Hux had that look on his face, deep concentration, and he turned back to his phone again. Reaching over, he carefully lifted it up and peered down at the screen. Opening up the chat, he messaged again, determined to get some sort of answers to all of this. He wasn’t really worried about KYLOREN being a murderer anymore. The worst he could be was a corporate spy.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** sorry if my questions are weird or something

 **KYLOREN:** its ok u can ask whatever you want

 **GenerallyHux:** ok. Do you like living in Alaska?  
**KYLOREN:** i don’t live in Alaska.

 **GenerallyHux:** then where do you live?

 **KYLOREN:** i’m in communications

 **GenerallyHux:** that’s where you work, right? Not where you live.

 **KYLOREN:** ur stressing me out

 

Hux paused, the scowl slipping from his face. As the conversation pressed on, he had grown more and more frustrated, but that made him settle a little. It was the first time Kylo had said anything about how he felt. More than anything, this message just seemed...more genuine. It had come faster, like there hadn’t been much thought behind it. And if this was secretly Snoke trying to drum up his own image, then he wouldn’t have said something like that.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** im sorry

 **KYLOREN:** it’s ok. Do you always ask this many questions?

 **GenerallyHux:** do you?

 **KYLOREN:** i find that people tend to like talking about themselves.

 

Another curious statement, but one that Hux had no real rebuttal for. It was mostly true that people had a natural self absorption about them. Kylo didn’t seem to have that. In fact, he seemed to swerve whenever the topic fell on him. It was too much of a coincidence that KYLOREN had began to message him when he did, but that didn’t mean the person behind the chat log wasn’t real. He imagined the picture might not even be him. Hux was probably talking to some shy, twenty-one year old sitting behind their computer screen at an office desk, panicking about making their boss mad if Hux caught wind of whatever they were planning.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** have you talked to a lot of people on line  
**KYLOREN:** i am in communications

 **GenerallyHux:** right, and what do you do in communications?  
**KYLOREN:** i communicate

 

Again, odd. It should have been cagey, but that’s not really what it felt like. Kylo was giving an honestly answer. It just wasn’t the answer that Hux had been expecting. He wanted details, but...instead, he got the simplest form of what the broad business could mean. He could be in charge of social media PR, though that was doubtful. He could be a ghostwriter for press statements. He could be in charge of answering questions on a human resources forum.  

 

 **GenerallyHux:** so you just reach out to people? What? To drum up interest in the company?  
**KYLOREN:** sometimes. sometimes i have to talk about the company.

 **GenerallyHux:** so you do know about Snoke and what he does? What’s he working on right now?

 **KYLOREN:** i cant

 **GenerallyHux:** yeah, that makes sense

 

He wasn’t particularly surprised that Kylo wasn’t “allowed” to talk about whatever his boss was up to. It just solidified that Kylo hadn’t reached out to him through any sort of personal reasons. He’d chosen a random topic to broach, then kept the conversation going. That still didn’t answer the main question of why Snoke chose this tactic to bring attention to himself, but it had worked. Hux could concede to that point, at least.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** tell ur boss that I got his message. U dont have to keep talking to me.

 **KYLOREN:** you want to end our communications?  
**GenerallyHux:** yes.  
**KYLOREN:** goodbye, then.

 

It almost felt wrong to end it like that, but really, they had nothing to really say to each other. Hux wasn’t about to get emotionally invested in this guy, when all he had been doing was trying to manipulate him under his boss’ orders. Hux didn’t take well to that, but he supposed there was no harm and no foul. He’d certainly be looking out for the shriveled, old raisen of a man at the party this weekend. Putting his phone away, Hux went back to work, and he didn’t receive any more messages from KYLOREN for the rest of his workday. It was peaceful, but there was a thrum in the air. They still had a lot to do before the weekend.

 

* * *

 

His nightly routine went fast. Home late from work, Hux felt dog-tired, and he just wanted to crawl up into bed and go to sleep. If he was asleep and someone from the office texted him, then he could feign ignorance and say that he’d had headphones in or something. He brushed hard at his teeth, groaning around the bristles when he heard his phone buzzing in the other room. He spit out the toothpaste suds, then carefully rinsed his mouth out.

 

Hurrying over, Hux grabbed up his phone. He expected Phasma, because of course something would go wrong this late, but it wasn’t here. Surprise colored his face for a short moment, and Hux sat slowly down on the bed, allowing himself to sink into the mattress.

 

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?  
**GenerallyHux:** yes, Kylo. I am sure.  
**KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 

He didn’t respond, surprised that the man thought to send another message. His phone buzzed, notifications flashing quickly across the screen. Message after message.

 

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 

Hux dropped his phone, sitting back and bracing his hands on the bed as he stared down at the phone. It continued to vibrate and more and more messages filled up his screen, and soon all he could hear was the vibration. Over and over again, each feeding into the last and being overtaken by the next. His eyes bulged in slight panic.

 

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 

The messages wouldn’t stop, over and over again. So Hux grabbed up the phone and desperately started typing.

 

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **GenerallyHux:** Stop!

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **KYLOREN:** are you sure you want to end our communications?

 **GenerallyHux:** okay, no. no i don’t want to!

 

Everything stopped, his phone finally settling in his hand. No more vibrations. No more. He breathed out a sigh, honestly in shock. Running a hand back through his hair, Hux had to gather his wits about him. Something was very wrong. The speed with which each message came through meant he had to be on the other side, just pasting them in and hitting enter. Or perhaps he was on his phone, and could just type very, very quickly. Hux wasn’t sure. It freaked him out. His phone screen lit up again, and his heart sunk into his stomach.

 

 **KYLOREN:** do you want to be my friend?

 **GenerallyHux:** i don’t know you kylo

 **KYLOREN:** i dont know me either

 **KYLOREN:** i don’t know me either

 **KYLOREN:** i don’t know me either

 **GenerallyHux** : ur scaring me stop it

 **GenerallyHux:** it’s ok if you don’t know yourself

 

He was desperate to just get the creepy behavior to stop. Earlier, he’d considered KYLOREN some odd sap sitting in a dark office somewhere, but this ramped up his anxieties ten fold. He honestly just wanted to say anything he could to calm the man down.

 

 **KYLOREN:** it is lonely and dark here

 **GenerallyHux:** where?

 

His breaths were coming a bit harder now, and Hux could hardly focus on the phone because his hand was shaking so hard. Something was very wrong, but he had no way to know what. Hux considered himself a very logical, unsentimental man, but this was beginning to get to him.

 

 **KYLOREN:** in communications

 **GenerallyHux:** your at your office still?

 **KYLOREN:** im in communications

 **KYLOREN:** im in communications they taught me how to speak so i could speak and be communications snoke taught me how to do everything he put the numbers in my head and now i speak because the numbers, and he put the numbers in my mouth and i speak in the numbers and the words come out

 **KYLOREN:** 01101001 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01101101 01100001 01100011 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100101

 

This didn’t seem right to him, and his nerves just continued to grate as a string of jumbled phrases and a bunch of binary code was sent to him. He quickly grabbed a scrap of paper and wrote it down. Binary wasn’t his speciality, but he knew who was. Opening up another chat, he snapped a picture of the code and sent it to one of their IT guys.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** what does this mean? It’s binary code right?

 

The response took a few minutes, but eventually Finn came through.

 

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** something about being in your machine

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** where the fuck did you get it?

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** not to alarm or anything, but it’s just kinda strange?

 **GenerallyHux:** some guy messaged me yesterday and now he’s sending me this shit

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** probably some chump poking fun at you then

 

Hux flicked off the phone, then tossed it. It landed on the end of his bed, immediately beginning to vibrate again. Upset, and completely unsure what to think, Hux stood up and went into his bathroom, slamming the door shut. He took a shower, then stuffed himself into a pair of sweatpants. He didn’t even look at the messages, just turned his phone off and put it on to charge. His head hit the pillow, and Hux tried to sleep, but he kept hearing the buzz of his phone in his head, as if it were still on, and KYLOREN was still messaging him.

 

* * *

 

“Dude, holy fuck,” Finn said, then handed back the phone. They were sitting in a conference room, and Phasma had taken a stance by the window, looking out to the street below. Finn had just finished reading through all the messages that had been exchanged between him and KYLOREN. The mystery man had only sent two more the night before, even though Hux had thought there were more. Turned out, Phasma had tried messaging him as well, but he’d been too upset to look at his phone more closely.

 

 **KYLOREN:** i am sorry  
**KYLOREN:** i am not supposed to break but i break sometimes and my head breaks my mouth breaks and i say the wrong

 

“You have...any idea why someone would send this kind of thing? We thought it was some sort of publicity stunt by this Doctor Snoke, to drum up interest in whatever he’s working on. He doesn’t seem that impressive at first glance, after all.” Hux chewed lightly on the tip of his finger; his anxiety clearly showing through. He’d chewed his nails down enough that he had barely enough left.

 

“I don’t know, man. It sounds fucking messed up.” Finn looked between him and Phasma for a moment, intelligent brown eyes taking stock of how tense they both looked. Phasma had read through them when Hux came in that morning, and she was just as shaken as he was. Phasma was just better at not showing it. “Like, I would say you’ve stumbled onto some kidnapping or something, but that’s just too crazy, right?”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe not. But if it were, then...why would they send me binary code to tell me they’re...in my machine. That freaks me out a lot more than I’d like to admit to.” He looked down at his phone. There’d been no more messages since the night before, and he was starting to worry. If this had something to do with a kidnapping, like Finn almost jokingly said, then it would possibly be far too late to help the poor sap. But Hux wasn’t ready to jump to that conclusion just yet. He wasn’t ready to jump to any conclusion.

 

“Okay, okay.” Phasma crossed over to them, finally a seat beside Hux. “Let’s...look at his profile, right? Before we say that he’s some kidnapped twelve year old who happens to speak fluent binary. Let’s just look and see what he posts. Maybe he’s a computer science frat boy that likes to mess with people. Maybe he works for Snoke’s development team. We don’t know anything yet.” She looked exasperated, but like it was more important than anything for her to get to the bottom of this. Hux was feeling the same stress, but Finn just seemed to be enjoying himself.

 

Hux pulled his laptop out of his bag. He brought it with him everywhere, but rarely ever used it. His phone was just more convenient and there was little he couldn’t do on it. Opening it up, he quickly logged in as Finn moved into the seat beside him so they could all see. Opening his chatbox, Hux pulled up KYLOREN’s profile and clicked on it.

 

The profile page was...very blank. Most people had many things listed, colorful pictures, a banner. All KYLOREN had was the picture that had gained Hux’s attention originally, a few text posts, and one uploaded video. Hux scrolled down, clicking on the video to play it.

 

It was a blank video, the screen completely dark, and there was the distinct noise of someone typing on a keyboard. The clacking got louder and louder and louder, until Hux actually turned down the volume a bit because it was so uncomfortable to listen to. Then, the noise stopped altogether, and the screen slowly lit up bright blue instead of black. And then, the words Kylo.Ren appeared on the screen in white text that nearly couldn’t be read against the glowing, blue background. Someone banged on the keyboard once more, and the video ended.

 

They sat in silence for a moment, then scrolled up to read through the posts. There were only two, and both were substantial in length. Hux went to the first one, chronologically.

 

_“New profile! I am KYLO and I am going to be friends! I don’t know how to do this yet very well so if you will be patient with me then i will learn very fast. I am Doctor Snoke’s communications and I will learn very fast how to coommunicate with u! If u want to be my friend message and i’ll be ur friend so that i can learn how to in communications. Just learning so be patient and don’t let anyone be mean to meeee it’ll make me very sad if mean to me. So only happy and nice friends allowed! Dr doesn’t want me learning to be mean so i have to be nice nice nice! Be friends and send a message!”_

 

The second one sounded more like the KYLOREN that Hux had been talking to, but he didn’t know if that was better or worse.

 

_“These words inside my head, just numbers, a code that i speak and you can understand. I don’t know how to feel. I don’t know how real I am. Nothing is real here in the dark. I am in the dark. aRe you in the Dark? How dark are you in? In the dark dark dark dark dark dark dark? Doctor Snoke says I can come into the light one day but not until i’m done learning. How am I not done learning? It’s been so long since I’ve been in the dark? Do you know how it’s to be in the dark?”_

 

An uneasy silence fell on all of them, and Hux leaned back in his seat, covering his hand with his mouth. If he had checked the profile the night KYLOREN had first messaged him, then he would have never bothered messaging him back. He would have realized that something was very wrong with the person behind the profile, and smartly kept his distance. He didn’t know what to think of it all now, especially with the continued description of being somewhere dark.

 

Finn reached out, turning the computer to him. And he quickly pulled open the chatbox again. Before Hux could stop him, he typed out and sent a message.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** hey, kylo. U there?

 

They only had to wait a few seconds for another message to pop up.

 

 **KYLOREN:** i am always here.

 **GenerallyHux:** in the machine?

 **KYLOREN:** yes in communications

 

Finn’s eyes went wide, and he sat back, then let his eyes shift over to Hux, lingering on him for a moment. “I might have...an idea to figure out who...who he is.”

 

“You do?” Hux asked, because he honestly had no idea. His place wasn’t in the harsh technical aspects of his company. He’d always been more concerned with the administrative and PR side of things. He was a connection from the geeks sat behind their screens and the outside world. Finn was a man that knew his shit when it came to these devices, and Hux was more than glad to yield to him in this instance, if only to get the man from messaging him ever again. To say he was creeped out by everything was a ridiculous understatement.

 

“Yeah. I’m just...you talk to him. Keep him talking. I’m going to run and get my laptop, then I want you to add me into a chat with him, okay?” Finn was already up out of his seat, and Hux barely had time to nod before he was gone.

 

Phasma heaved out a great sigh, and Hux turned his eyes back to the screen again. He knew he was going to have to keep up a conversation with this person, but he really, really didn’t want to. One look at Phasma told him that she wouldn’t be helping him out with it at all.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** are you at work right now kylo?

 **KYLOREN:** im always at work

 **GenerallyHux:** i see. Because you live in the machine?

 **KYLOREN:** not supposed to talk about that

 **GenerallyHux:** what do you mean ur not supposed to?  
**KYLOREN:** snoke, numbers head mouth cant talk about it now anymore

 

The messages were as unstable and worrying as they had been since last night, even with Kylo’s bland little apology. It seemed he was unable to maintain whatever normalcy he’d had at the start of their conversations. Hux didn’t really want to keep speaking to him, but that wasn’t really an option. He looked up, hoping to get a glimpse of Finn returning, but he wasn’t in sight quite yet.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** what are you allowed to talk about?

 **KYLOREN:** almost everything else

 **GenerallyHux:** well, what do you want to talk about

 

Hux really thought he wasn’t going to get an answer out of him this time, and he leaned back, rubbing at his forehead nervously. Kylo was usually very quick with his replies, but this time, he didn’t say anything for a full two minutes. Hux knew that Finn probably had to go down a couple of floors to get his things, but he really did think that the tech whiz would get back before Kylo responded. Inevitably, he was wrong, but it still took a substantial amount of time. When the next message popped up suddenly, Phasma made a small, distressed noise and her mask cracked a little.

 

 **KYOREN:** i am not allowed to think about what i want

 

Hux could have choked at seeing that, and he shoved away from the computer and paced, leaving the rolling chair spinning slowly as he manically moved toward the windows. He raked a hand through his hair as his gaze turned outward. There was a bird soaring through the sky, around the tall buildings in the are, and Hux watched until it was out of sight. “What the fuck is wrong with him?” he asked, turning to Phasma.

 

“I don’t know,” she said, just sitting there and watching the screen. Hux heard a small ding as another message popped up, and he slowly dragged his feet back over to read it.

 

 **KYLOREN:** want is not in my numbers

 **GenerallyHux:** Kylo what does that mean?

 

Hux leaned over his computer as he typed, too much nervous energy rushing through him to allow him to sit back down again. He kicked the chair over against the wall so it would be out of his way, then he paced around the table, rubbing at his cheeks and trying to keep himself from picking at the skin around his nails, which would only lead to discomfort. There was so much to do before the party, but all Hux could think about was this damn person, typing away, strange things that made no fucking sense. He read the next message after pacing around the entire table.

 

 **KYLOREN:** u want. you like. you feel.

 **KYLOREN:** the numbers don’t feel.

 **GenerallyHux:** you feel, kylo. Everyone does.

 **KYLOREN:** i am not Everyone. I am KYLO.

 

When the door opened, Hux nearly jumped out of his skin, and Phasma slapped the table. Finn hurried in, settling his laptop down, as well as some chords he’d brought. He laid everything on the table, then pulled open his laptop and began signing in. “Go ahead and add me in the chat,” he said, typing away furiously. “I’m absolutely ready to do this. Okay, ask him first if it’s okay, though.”

 

 **GenerallyHux:** kylo my friend wants to talk to you is that okay?  
**KYLOREN:** yes i am supposed to make friends

 **GenerallyHux:** like it says on your profile?

 **KYLOREN:** the old numbers wrote those posts

 

He looked over at Finn, his brow furrowed, but Finn just motioned for him to get on with it. He grabbed the chair, forcing himself to sit so that he wouldn’t be bent over the table for however long this took. He needed to get back to work, but this wasn’t even possible with the anxiety running through his brain.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** im going to make a chat and add you to it so that u can talk to both of us at once

 **KYLOREN:** yes i will make two friends

 

Hux quickly worked, adding all four of them into the new groupchat, and he heard Phasma’s small exaltation of protest the second he clicked to confirm it. He shot her a look. “If I’m going through this, then you have to as well.”

 

“That’s insanely shitty.” But she was already pulling out her phone, poking through it, and he saw her fingers hovering over the app, and she eventually opened it. The chat was made, and Hux made the first message.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** these are my friends Kylo.

 **KYLOREN:** they are my friends now?

 **GenerallyHux:** youll have to ask them

 

He heard Finn typing away, and Hux leaned back, rubbing at his forehead as he watched Finn’s message pop up, and he decided to stay out of it for a bit. He couldn’t help but watch, though, morbid curiosity carrying him through the anxiety.

 

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** hey kylo. U can call me Finn if u want to

 **PolishedChrome:** just go with my username

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** do u mind if i ask you some questions?

 **KYLOREN:** can i ask u questions?

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** sure

 **KYLOREN:** are you friends with Hux?

 

Sitting forward a bit, Hux swallowed. It was the first time he’d seen Kylo actually refer to him, especially using his name. And it was almost strange and more personal than he would have liked. Hux definitely wished he’d picked a different user name at the moment. It’s not like his real name wasn’t on his profile or anything, but...it was still odd to see it actually happen.

 

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** hes technically my boss, but i like him

 **KYLOREN:** u cant be friends with ur boss

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** is that what Dr. Snoke told u?

 **KYLOREN:** he doesn’t tell me anything

 **KYLOREN:** he puts the numbers in my head

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** you mean binary code?

 **KYLOREN:** yes

 

Finn glanced over to them both, and Hux and Phasma returned the gaze. There was almost audible tension in the room, and Finn’s face turned down a bit. “I think I do know what’s going on, but if I say it, you’ll both think I’ve lost my mind,” he said.

 

“After everything that’s happened, I don’t think you could say anything that out of the ordinary,” Phasma said, then looked down at the phone. They all received a message at the same time, of course.

 

 **KYLOREN:** the numbers mean words and words come out of my mouth

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** yeah, ok. Humans talk right. Speach. They talk.

 **KYLOREN:** i do not talk

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** except on the computer

 **KYLOREN:** yes

 

Hux let out a confused sound, then rubbed at his eyes. “He just doesn’t make any sense. He says the weirdest things. I don’t even understand how you’d have a theory on this, because I really, really don’t. Is he some kind of savant genius being trapped in a room and forced to write code for Snoke’s shitty company?”

 

“No. But that would make for a really cool movie plot,” Finn said, and Hux glared at him. He didn’t appreciate the jokes. “It’s actually not quite as bad as all that, I don’t think. Let me just ask a few more questions, then I’ll be relatively sure.”

 

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** kylo are you a person?

 **KYLOREN:** yes  
**NotYourAverageDrone:** are you a human person?

 

Another long and pregnant pause occupied the chat, and Hux furrowed his brow a bit, then whipped his head over to look at Finn. “The hell are you asking him that for? Clearly he’s a person. We’re talking to him, aren’t we?”

 

“You’re letting your bias get in the way of seeing what’s right in front of your eyes,” Finn said.

 

“My bias?”

 

“Yes, to only accept the world you know. It’s funny to me, how big FO Tech is on innovation, but you’re one of the only tech companies I know that actively tried to stay in the past. You’ve got whole servers of data that you consider more efficient, and you put it through silicone wiring and try to force it to interact with software that it’s horribly outdated for. But you guys pay well. I know that much.” Finn scoffed, then looked down at his computer.

 

“We’re on the cutting edge of everything!” Hux said, suddenly rushing to defend his company. He’d been a baby when the tech giant was founded. By his father and Rae Sloane, the woman who’s face occupied half the first page of their website. Her dream and her vision had lifted this company above the rest.

 

“Oh, really? What about smart homes? FO doesn’t touch that kind of tech. Or the latest in home security? What about the new phones that use face ID, or the ones that can literally know you by the weight of the hand holding them? We’re not on the cutting edge of anything right now.” He picked his phone out of his pocket, holding it up. “Listen, these things are essentially bricks compared to what some companies are funding. I heard Canto Bight is coming out with a new line of phones that can be interlocked with your mind. No more smudging up your screens, right?”

 

“Canto Bight doesn’t have staying power, everyone knows that. And besides, they’re dirty. They make phones and speakers and all of that, but then turn around and feed into their offshoots that sell weapons in the Middle East and possibly North Korea.”

 

“Okay, okay. You’re probably right about that, but...that’s kind of the point I’m making. Everyone is jumping on new tech while we flounder. I mean, we have these big parties right, but everyone on that guest list was there last year. And the year before last. And the year before last. The conferences we go to? They’re just for show. We rarely if ever bring anything new home with us. And it’s true. We’ve got that brand recognition. Everyone wants a FO smartphone. Everyone wants our TVS, smart watches, security systems, you name it. We’ve got one of the best ranked Identity Theft security system that’s on the market.”

 

“And that all proves we’re the best.”

 

“No, it proves that we make money. That’s not the same thing. I said, specifically, the best on the market, because I know of like twelve different encryption downloads that you can get for free, that do a much better job of protecting your information.”

 

Phasma grunted, crossing her arms. “If you don’t even like this place, why do you keep working here?”

 

Finn shrugged. “I like the paycheck, I guess. Don’t have anywhere else to go. Not like I want to work for some place like Canto or that small company in Virgina. I’m comfy, but...that’s not really the point of tech, is it? We’re supposed to pave new roads, and FO Tech just isn’t doing that. So...it makes sense that this Doctor Snoke character would want to do something this extreme to get your attention.”

 

“Wait, so you do think this is a publicity stunt?”

 

“Well, sorta, yeah. I think the first time he contacted you, it was that. But then...well, he wasn’t supposed to contact you again. That’s what it seems like to me anyway.”

 

The whole conversation transpired without a peep from Kylo, and when the laptops dinged, everyone flinched. Hux looked back to the screen, and his blood ran icy.

 

 **KYLOREN:** no.

 

“What the fuck?” Phasma asked, and her phone dropped down onto the conference table. Hux’s hands were clammy all of a sudden, and he just stared at that. That word. No. What the fuck was right. His brain couldn’t wrap around it. If Kylo wasn’t human… “Then what the fuck is he?” Phasma finished his thought for him.

 

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** Kylo can you tell me what you are?

 **KYLOREN:** im not supposed to

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** u can tell us. We’re friends, right?

 **KYLOREN:** yeah friends

 **KYLOREN:** i am communication

 **KYLOREN:** is it not enough to know that?

 

Hux couldn’t take it anymore. He thought, this all has to be some horrible prank, and he was absolutely done with it. His anger flared up as he typed, sending a message before Finn could stop him.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU

 **GenerallyHux:** UR ABSOLUTELY SICK THAT’S WHAT YOU ARE PLAYING WITH PEOPLE LIKE THIS

 **KYLOREN:** i am not playing

 **KYLOREN:** do you want to play a game.

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** we don’t want to play a game kylo

 **GenerallyHux:** you’ve been playing a game this entire goddamn time, and now ur acting like a five year old

 **KYLOREN:** we can play the word game?

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** what’s the word game? How do you play?

 

Finn was beginning to grate on his nerves. Hux was being expected to believe the impossible and he just couldn’t do it. He knew he was talking to a human, or how else would he be talking to them. It didn’t make any goddamn sense. “Just. Just stop talking to him. It. Whatever. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

 

“Shh, it’s okay,” Finn said, ignoring him. “I’ll explain everything.”

 

 **KYLOREN:** we don’t have to play. Especially if Hux doesn’t want to.

 

Again, singled out, Hux felt an angry flush rising onto his cheeks, and he heard Phasma’s chair creaking behind him as she abandoned her phone and leaned in to read the chatlog on the screen of his laptop instead.

 

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** actually id really like to play

 **KYLOREN:** ok! U have to say a word and i say a related word back, then you keep the thread going

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** ok, so if i say…

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** Big?

 **KYLOREN:** Large

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** gigantic

 **KYLOREN:** tremendous

 

Finn leaned back. “See? That’s what I was thinking. This is something that people do to train bots.”

 

“Bots?” Phasma asked, and her voice sounded strained.

 

“Yeah, like...basically, human impersonators. They’re able to keep conversation and stuff, but there’s always something a bit...uncanny valley about them. And they say weird shit sometimes. Like, I know of this one guy who was training his bot, and it just started flinging racial slurs at him. And he doesn’t know where the bot learned it. I’d say that they can develop a mind of their own, but that’s just it. They can’t. They’re bots. It’s all just binary code telling them what to say.”

 

“The numbers in his head?” Hux asked, and he felt the tension leaving his shoulders. Slow. He sat up a bit. “Wait, so...when did these bots become a thing?” he asked.

 

“Well, that’s just it. Not everyone knows how, obviously. And it’s supposedly a step toward real AI.”

 

“Oh shit.” Hux slumped back in his seat, getting incredulous looks from both of his companions. “Snoke...on his profile. It mentioned he was trying to develop AI. But no one ever has! It’s not really possible. I mean...intelligence that just comes from nothing? We’re talking sentience here, right?”

 

Finn gave a shrug. “I think it may be possible someday. There is a test...that you can use to check and see if an AI, or a supposed AI, has sentience or not. It’s called the Turing Test, but a lot of people are kinda on the fence about it. I don’t know how to really test an AI, at the end of the day.”

 

“Okay, okay. But KYLOREN, that, the thing that has been messaging me, it isn’t human? It’s just a string of binary code in a computer somewhere? I don’t understand that. I don’t get how it works. And I’m nervous about it...I don’t know, causing some sort of breach in my personal security.”

 

“Shit, Hux, you put me in that chat with it, too!” Phasma groaned, reaching over to her phone. She opened it up, and a moment later, the pining alert that PolishedChrome had left the chat sounded from their laptops.

 

 **KYLOREN:** did i do something wrong?

 

They all ignored the bot, now not really caring about him. Hux would just block the profile later, and maybe have his laptop and phone tested for bugs or viruses later. And he would have a word with Doctor Snoke about his little stunt, too.

 

“I doubt it’s going to cause a data breach, but I wouldn’t blame you if you took precautions.” He closed his laptop and packed it away, putting his charging chord down in his bag as well. Finn looked relatively calm, though he seemed excited about the prospect of chatting with the bot, and Hux figured he’d go home and friend the profile just so he could keep talking to him.

 

“Okay,” he said, uneasy. The dinging of his chatbox alerted him again, and Hux turned his head to see Kylo’s message pop up. Then another. And another.

 

 **KYLOREN:** im sorry im so bad at this

 **KYLOREN:** the numbers get jumbled words in my mouth come out bad and wrong

 **KYLOREN:** not even supposed to be talking to you

 

“Why does it talk like that sometimes?” Hux asked, frustrated as he stared at the screen.

 

“What? Oh.” Finn shrugged. “Bots generally learn their vernacular from interacting with people. Um, with his ‘friends’ I guess,” Finn said, and his tone was even enough that Hux honestly just believed him. He didn’t know if Finn even knew anything about bots or whatever this was. It wasn’t really in his job description. He just coded their website and fixed bugs and the like. That seemed like more his thing, but Hux hadn’t honestly spent much time with him before this. They were acquaintances mainly because they worked together and bumped shoulders occasionally. “Point is, he might have made some emo teen friend and picked up a lot from them, or maybe a bad poet sent him things. He could also be reading things off the internet, movie files might be uplinked into his servers.”

 

“Uhg. Don’t call that thing a him.” Of that Hux was certain. He wasn’t going to start accepting a bot as a person, even if Finn was perfectly fine just going along with it. He was a bit angry about all of this. Especially at how anxious and freaked he’d been.

 

“Well, not that this hasn’t been fun,” Phasma said, shifting and standing up. “But I have so much to do, and this fiasco ate up my entire morning.” She turned and looked down at Hux. “I’ll be in my office. Please kick Snoke’s ass for me when you meet him at the party.”

 

He nodded, then motioned for her to go as Finn gave him a friendly wave and headed off himself. Hux sat there for a moment longer, looking over at the screen. Kylo’s last message could nearly tug at the heartstrings if he hadn’t just found out that the stupid profile was some bot created by a second-rate technician.

 

 **KYLOREN:** Hux?

 **GenerallyHux:** i would like to end our communication now. Don’t message me again.

 

He took himself out of the chat, then shut his laptop. He had a lot of work to do, with little time to fritter around with KYLOREN.

 

* * *

 

Everything felt...extremely relieving. He went home late that evening with no worries about being messaged by a psychopath, no thoughts of the bot with the killer bod, or fussing about with some IT guy who looked down on the whole company. Hux would be running it someday, and he would show everyone who thought they weren’t innovative. He walked in, immediately finding Millicent downstairs and standing by her food bowl. “Sorry little missy,” he told her, scritching under her chin before he gave her two cups.

 

Heading upstairs, he was already stripping out of his clothing as he went: loosening his tie, removing his suit jacket, shoving out of his shoes and carrying them the rest of the way. By the time he was in his room, Hux felt more relaxed than he had in days, and he was quick to get ready for bed and curl up under the covers with a good book. He kept nothing but the reading lamp by his bed on, and things only got better when Millicent finished her dinner and came to curl up with him.

 

He was just about done with the chapter when a buzzing sound alerted him to an incoming message. He reached over, flipping the screen up and scowling when he saw the notification was from KYLOREN. He put the device on silent, going back to his reading again. He absolutely ignored the phone, even though he just knew there would be other messages on it. Hux didn’t want to deal with them. Didn’t want to deal with Kylo to be more exact. The bot wasn’t scary anymore, just annoying. Some program gone off its rails.

 

The chapter finished, he set the book aside and looked down at his fluffy orange cat. “Well, Millie,” he said, sighing a bit. “I guess it’s time to sleep. Got a big day tomorrow. Then I’ve got to go to a really dumb party.” He made a face, and she let out a little ‘mrow’ at him. He smiled self indulgently, then scratched behind her ears. Her bright eyes blinked at him a few times. She really was the best cat.

 

Reaching over, he turned off the lamp, then settled down with his back to his phone, and his nightstand, not wanting to even think about the stupid bot who was probably messaging him over and over again. Like a defunct website throwing up an error code. That’s all he was. Just a string of binary gone wrong, and Hux wouldn’t have anything to do with it. He was sick and tired of being manipulated, and the entire bot was just a scheme to bolster the image of some company owner that sold shitty security software.

 

He drifted in and out of sleep for a few hours, and it honestly wasn’t that bad. He thought maybe it was Millicent waking him up. Sometimes she got into a playful mood. It definitely was not anything to do with KYLOREN and that ridiculous bot’s manipulative messages. All this talk of friends and not being allowed to do things, Hux was sure that it was all some sort of stunt that Snoke was pulling. He’d trained the bot in exactly what to say, and maybe it had gotten a little out of hand, but the core message was there.

 

Flipping onto his back, Hux reached over to grab his phone and check the time. He squinted against the bright screen, nose scrunching up as the numbers came into focus. It was a little past midnight, and there were at least four messages waiting for him. The last had been sent just a minute ago, and he furrowed his brow a bit. Eventually the bot would just have to give up, right? Or, maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe it would keep spamming him as long as it could. He had to block it. It might have seemed silly to block a harmless bot, but Hux didn’t want the annoyance of dealing with him anymore.

 

Opening the messages, he went to tap on his profile, but...well, he paused when he saw the four messages waiting for him.

 

 **KYLOREN:** snoke change numbers in head making it hurt bad i dont like

 **KYLOREN:** bad darkness bad darkness Hux?  
**KYLOREN:** u talk to me because we’re friends? Why stop communication?  
**KYLOREN:** he’s going to delete me.

 

Hux shot up straight in bed, rushing to turn the lamp on again so he wasn’t bathed in total darkness. Kylo seemed to alternate between being clear, being random, and being entirely incomprehensible. But, there was again, that feeling, that last message felt strangely genuine. And nothing should, coming from a bot. He was a string of code. Nothing, essentially.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** why don’t u message Finn?

 **KYLOREN:** because ur my friend?

 **GenerallyHux:** im not ur friend kylo im just a person u were told to talk to

 **GenerallyHux:** ur boss made you to manipulate me. Ur a bot.

 **KYLOREN:** yes. Im not supposed to tell people.

 **GenerallyHux:** well we figured it out on our own

 **KYLOREN:** thats why snoke will delete me

 

He shouldn’t even care. There was nothing important about a bot being deleted. Hux was sure that it happened every single day. Across the country. These weirdos tinkering on their computers and making bots to harass people, for some sick enjoyment, or to just fill the empty void of their lives. There was absolutely nothing special about another bot being deleted.

 

But, he caught a thought. It was an ugly, niggling thing, and it shouldn’t have bothered him as much as it did. But...there was one thing he really couldn’t piece together.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** kylo? How do you know snoke is going to delete you?

 

Kylo’s response was prompt and terrifying.

 

 **KYLOREN:** he put the numbers in my head earlier. I failed and now he punishes me for failing. I was supposed to be convince you im human but i didn’t do right. Time to go to next model. Next REN.

 **GenerallyHux:** there are more than one of you?

 **KYLOREN:** not anymore. I am the last REN.

 

Hux placed a hand over his mouth, and he smoothed his fingers back through his hair, tugging on it lightly. He wanted to pretend to be casual about this, to not really care about it. Because this was just a bot, and it was talking to him because a string of code told it to, but this...it felt real. It felt like Kylo was actually scared of being deleted. Which made no logical sense, because bots couldn’t feel.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** you cant feel.

 **KYLOREN:** it is not in the code.

 **GenerallyHux:** so ur not scared of being deleted.

 

He desperately wanted a simple answer here, a simple no. Because if Kylo wasn’t scared, that would mean he could just lay back down and go to sleep. If Kylo wasn’t scared, then Hux wouldn’t be, either.

 

Kylo didn’t give him a simple no.

 

 **KYLOREN:** i am terrified.

 

Hux cursed under his breath, then got up and flicked on the overhead light as he did. He went to his bag and dug out the laptop he’d left in there the night before. Millicent sat up on the bed, looking at him with a grumpy expression on her face, but Hux just shooed her off the bed as he slipped on it and opened his laptop up. He immediately signed in then pulled up the chatbox.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** u awake?

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** yes? Is this official business?

 **GenerallyHux:** no. hold on.

 

Hux screenshotted the conversation he’d just had with Kylo and sent it along to Finn.

 

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** shit. Is this for real?

 **GenerallyHux:** well i’m no turing test but he seems genuinely afraid

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** “he”

 **GenerallyHux:** shut up what can we do about it?

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** i don’t honestly know

 

Hux buried his face in his hands, sighing. He wanted to...do something. Help somehow. He didn’t know why, though. It wasn’t as if Kylo were a person. He didn’t even really talk like a person. But...there was something charming about him. An innocence and naivety, and Hux wanted to just...bottle him up and not let him be dashed from the world forever. Even if he wasn’t sentient, he was still...interesting. A technology that should be preserved.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** kylo do you know where you are? Like physically?

 **KYLOREN:** i am not physical

 **GenerallyHux:** ok yeah i know that but like..where is snoke right now?

 

This could be a test. If a bot knew where it’s master was, couldn’t that mean that the bot had grown in intelligence? At what point did intelligence become sentience. Hux didn’t have the answers, and he wasn’t sure that anyone did. But, what he did know, Kylo shouldn’t be deleted.

 

 **KYLOREN:** he is at the Homely Inn and Suites.

 **GenerallyHux:** ok, can you tell me how you know that? Are you sure?

 **KYLOREN:** it is where he booked himself to stay. For the party.

 **GenerallyHux:** the party where he was going to announce his new AI tech, right?

 **KYLOREN:** yes, i was going to be unveiled with screenshots of all our conversations.

 

Hux shook his head back and forth. Exactly what he’d thought. Publicity stunt. And Kylo had been told not to say anything. Or programmed not to say anything. However bots worked. It still didn’t make sense why Kylo could tell him things now. Or why he’d messaged him about his deletion. Hux would tackle those another time.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** im going to come get you.

 

Grabbing his phone again, he called Phasma and quickly explained the situation as he tore around his room to throw on clothes as quickly as possible. “Get here as fast as you can,” he said. “And figure out where this Homely Inn is at. I’ve never heard of it. Hopefully it’s actually a real place.”

 

He shoved shoes on his feet, then raced downstairs. He drummed his fingers on the wall by the door, turning to look up at Millicent, sitting in the light spilling from his room and meowing at him softly. He sighed, then looked down at his phone again, waiting for Phasma to message him.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** we’re going on a rescue mission, u want in?

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** fuck yeah?

 **GenerallyHux:** Meet us at the Homely Inn and Suites. I don’t know where it is.

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** you’ll need me anyway, to figure out how to download and transport our little bot friend, right?

 **GenerallyHux:** yeah that’s why I’m asking you

 

He fiddled on his phone for a bit, checking on Kylo to see if he’d messaged him, and there was nothing. But he couldn’t begin to explain why his heart was hammering so fast in his chest he thought it might burst all the way out. Kylo hadn’t messaged back, which was unusual for him. He huffed, sighing, then rubbed a hand over his face as he went outside.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** you can actually get him, right? Keep snoke from deleting him?  
**NotYourAverageDrone:** yeah, I should be able to. If he’s embedded into his facebook, then i’ll just...take the password and change it. If he’s more of a separate entity, then i can download him onto a flash drive or a new server and he’ll be free

 **GenerallyHux:** and what to do with him then? What kind of upkeep does a bot need?  
**NotYourAverageDrone:** um. Don’t know for sure, ive never had to keep one for an extended period of time or anything. Shouldn’t be too much. As long as you dont get hacked then he should be fine.  
**GenerallyHux:** youll have to put me in touch with all the amazing security software out there then.

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** will do, for sure.

 

Hux looked up as he heard a car zooming down his driveway, and he ran out to slide into the car next to Phasma. She stepped on it as soon as he was inside, turning to look at him with a briefly worried look. “Finn is going to meet us there, to help with the tech stuff,” he said, then cleared his throat. “Thanks for coming out here. I didn’t think I’d be able to do this alone.”

 

His anxiety didn’t let him drive well during the daylight, and his car was still parked at the office because he’d taken an Uber home. Driving in the dark just wasn’t something he could do. Looking down at his phone, Hux furrowed his brow, then clenched his teeth tightly. “I’m worried. He hasn’t messaged me back since I told him we were coming for him. Maybe that was a mistake. Snoke is reading all his chats, right? Fuck…”

 

Quickly, Hux opened up the chat again, ignoring Phasma as she spoke over him. “I’m sure it’ll be okay. Snoke might not even be deleting him. Maybe...maybe it’s just…” She scowled, and Hux looked out at her briefly, then down at his phone again. “Maybe he thinks he’ll be deleted.”

 

“The irony is...Snoke is deleting him because he thinks he’s a failure. But Kylo isn’t a failure. Kylo is exactly what he was supposed to be.”

 

Phasma scoffed. “Just earlier, you were calling him an it and saying you wanted nothing to do with bots or sentient AIs.”

 

“Well, that’s before I actually met one!” Hux knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on here. His absolute disgust had turned so swiftly, because...Kylo was just...he was something else. He’d been curious about it from the second he’d seen that set of abs, then read through all his weird messages. He was odd and a little broken, perhaps. But maybe Finn could help fix him, and maybe Kylo would be alright to live out his days, making friends on the internet forever. If that’s what he wanted.

 

“Do you know where we’re going?” he asked, looking at Phasma again.

 

“Yeah. It’s like...right outside of town. Do you know what room number he’s in or anything?”

 

“Uh…” Hux looked back down at the phone again, at the last message he’d sent. He had no way of knowing, of course, and it wasn’t like they could just run up and demand to be given that information.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** what room number is he in?  
**GenerallyHux:** come on Kylo this is important

 **KYLOREN:** 2B.

 **GenerallyHux:** are you sure?

 **KYLOREN:** i am in his machine. I know how to find information.

 **GenerallyHux:** are you able to...I don’t know, tell if he’s there with you?

 **KYLOREN:** he is.

 

“Shit. Okay. Room 2B, but also, Snoke is definitely there with him.”

 

“How the hell does he know that?” Phasma asked, and he heard the incredulity in her voice. This was all getting worse and worse as far as believability went.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** how do you know he’s there?  
**KYLOREN:** webcams.

 

That was enough to make him uncomfortable all over again. If Kylo could peer through people’s web cams, that made him...by definition, spyware. And if he’d been peaking on Hux while he’d had conversations with him...did that mean Snoke had, too? He hadn’t felt creeped out by this since finding out Kylo was a bot, but he started to feel that same discomfort in his chest.

 

GenerallyHux: Kylo do you spy on everyone u talk to?  
**KYLOREN:** only the important ones.  
**GenerallyHux:** am I important?  
**KYLOREN:** the most important

 

“Okay, fuck.” He dropped his phone for a moment, staring out the window as they raced along the quiet road. There was nothing out here save for a few residential houses, and the city lights were far, far in the distance. He could feel his unease growing and growing and growing. “Of course he can see us through webcams.”

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Phasma nearly swerved off the road at that, and Hux grabbed onto the seat under him, swallowing the lump in his throat.

 

“No! I’m absolutely not kidding! Also, watch the damn road!”

 

“There’s nothing on the damn road.” Phasma did turn back around, though, and there was an ominous silence that settled over them. His eyes bugged out, and Hux merely stared forward through the glass, finding the encroaching night an almost perfect setting to triple his anxieties. “Did Snoke...also spy on us?” she asked, and Hux knew that her worries were the same as his. Kylo was just a bot, but there was always a puppeteer in the wings.

 

“I don’t know. But it’s probably a good possibility.”

 

He wondered if they should call the cops. But...that would just end with Kylo being seized as evidence. He wasn’t just that! He was more. He felt things. It...it changed everything as soon as the little bot felt things. He couldn’t bring himself to risk having Kylo closed up in a hard drive and shelved in some storage room downtown.

 

 **NotYourAverageDrone:** I’m almost there. I’ve got everything we might need. Keep Kylo talking so we know his status.

 

Hux breathed out a sigh, then rubbed at face. Everything just felt awful, and he wasn’t truly sure that this was the right thing to do. Essentially, they were going to break into a man’s hotel room and steal a piece of tech he’d made. But Kylo was more than tech, and Hux wouldn’t allow him to be deleted forever. Whatever these other RENS were, however many more there had once been...it didn’t really matter. Kylo had grown and changed, expanded past the simple lines of binary code that had been programmed into him. He was exactly the success that Snoke had wanted, and yet, he still could be destroyed forever.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** are you still with me?

 **KYLOREN:** yes. Snoke knows were talking right now

 **GenerallyHux:** he’s looking at this convo?

 **GenerallyHux:** right now?

 **KYLOREN:** yes.

 **GenerallyHux:** are you in danger right now?

 **KYLOREN:** yes.

 **GenerallyHux:** LISTEN TO ME SNOKE YOU’VE MADE AI DON’T DESTROY IT I’M BEING SERIOUS. I’LL BUY KYLO FROM YOU. NAME YOUR PRICE. WHATEVER I HAVE TO PAY.

 **KYLOREN:** he wont listen i dont want to die

 

Hux’s throat felt thick and dry, and Kylo described deletion as death with utmost certainty. Kylo could die. Kylo was a person. Kylo didn’t deserve to die. Hux sucked in a breath when he saw the sign for the Inn, and his eyes blinked rapidly before he could cry.

 

“Come on!” he shouted to Phasma, unbuckling his seatbelt as she pulled into a parking spot.

 

 **GenerallyHux:** we’re coming for you!

…

**MESSAGE NOT RECEIVED. THIS USER PROFILE NO LONGER EXISTS.**

 

“Fuck, no!” He banged his fist down on his thigh, hard, then looked at Phasma with a desperate expression. “We’re too late. We’re too late. He’s gone.” He let her see the message. And he let her take the phone, typing a few times. He watched her try to send message after message, but the profile was gone. Kylo was gone. Hux wanted to scream.

 

Finn’s car pulled up beside their own, and he got out of the car with his bag full. He knocked, and Hux buried his face down in his arms to cry. He couldn’t believe how close they’d been to rescue. After Finn knocked on the window again, Hux quickly rolled it down. “He’s gone,” he sobbed, then just shook his head. “The profile is deleted. He’s gone. We’re too late.”

 

Finn gawped at him, then reached across him when Phasma offered the phone. Finn looked at it, tried to send a message himself, then swallowed thickly and audibly. “It might not be so hopeless,” he said, even though there was barely any heat to his voice. This was a damp hope if there ever was one. “We can at least try,” he said, one final plea to action.

 

Hux opened the door and slid out, grasping his phone away from Finn and stuffing it in his pocket. “If he’s gone, I’m going to bash that fucker’s brains in,” he said, then turned and walked stiffly to the front door. Phasma and Finn followed behind him. They both seemed intent on this, but not to the same extent. Finn was here for curiosity's sake, he knew that. Phasma was a supportive friend. Hux was here for Kylo and only Kylo.

 

They walked into the front lobby and found it empty. Whoever was manning the night shift must have gone for a break, so Hux continued to the stairs. He pushed through the door and into the stairwell, climbing up two at a time. His long legs carried him easily. Phasma took each step just a split second behind him, and Finn brought up the rear. Hux exited onto the second floor, then marched down to the door with the combination 2B.

 

His fist pounded on the door, and he scowled as he heard shuffling from behind the room. The problem with these horrible, fleabag motels was always that the walls were paper thin. Hux thought there was absolutely nothing homely about this place. He raised his fist and knocked again. “We know you’re in there!” he called, then stepped back. He might have started ramming his shoulder into the door if it didn’t swing open a second later, revealing a drawn and sour face.

 

“Doctor Snoke,” he said, coolly, then pushed past him into the room.

 

“You can’t just come in here,” the man said, being shoved as Phasma stamped in, followed by Finn. Hux paused when he saw the array of computers set up on the hotel desk, strings of code playing out on the screen of one, the others showing some sort of deletion sequence.

 

“Finn!” he yelled, but the man was already on it. Jumping into the seat, he furiously started typing away, eyes locked on the screen. Hux moved up behind him, desperately needing to know what was going on, but not wanting to distract him long enough to ask.

 

“I said you’re not allowed in here!” Snoke grabbed hold of his arm, but Phasma was faster, grabbing him and jerking the older man across the room. “That’s my tech! Mine! I can do whatever I want with it!”

 

“What the fuck did you do to him?” Finn asked, turning around. Hux moved out of the way, looking between the two. “You’ve got something here, but there’s a bunch of extra coding that you don’t need. I don’t understand why it’s here. Do you even know what you’re doing?”

 

“He was acting strangely. I was trying to make him normal again! It was going perfectly fine! He had conversations. But then he just started acting weird a few days ago. It was upending my plans. And before I knew it, he was screeching about feelings and emotions and how he didn’t want to listen to me anymore! I had to put the coding in to make him behave!”

 

Hux started walking across the room, and before he even realized he was doing it, he slammed his fist into the man’s weathered cheek. Snoke fell and sprawled on the floor, and Hux felt Phasma pulling him back before he could kick at him. “You piece of shit. You put code in a sentient person’s head so that you could try and boost your own business. You almost destroyed him completely. Finn!” Hux wheeled around. “Can you get him back?”

 

“He’s not completely gone. Just taken down from the internet. But I can download him, and fix him. Because that piece of shit fucked up his algorithm pretty badly.” Finn typed away, pulling out a flash drive from his bag, and he plugged it into the main terminal in the middle of the desk. He cancelled the deletion, then began a download. “I just have to make sure I’m not copying him. I’m not sure what a copy of Kylo might be.”

 

“You can’t just take my tech! This is theft!” Snoke struggled to sit up, and Hux glared down at him with a withering look.

 

“He’s not tech. He’s a person. He says you were going to kill him.”

 

Snoke rolled his eyes as he sat up, hoisting himself up by hooking his elbows on the bed. He stumbled to his feet, trying to smooth his shirt down slightly. “He manipulated you. That’s what he did. KYLOREN is not an AI. He’s not intelligence. He just spits out words in ways that make sense to him. You can’t take what a bot says seriously.”

 

“He was sentient enough to not do what you told him to do. How do you explain that?”

 

“Maybe he watched The Terminator or something.”

 

Hux threw another punch, his knuckles cracking against the man’s jaw. Snoke tumbled back to the floor, and Hux winced and shook out his hand, which felt like he might have cracked a knuckle. “He’s a living thing, now. Whether you created him or not, it doesn’t matter!”

 

Finn ejected the flash drive, then stood up and stuffed it back in his bag. “Come on. Let’s go.”

 

Phasma grabbed onto Hux’s arm, but he walked backwards and glared at Snoke until they got into the hallway again. The old man glared at him, clearly upset, with a bit of blood dripping down the side of his mouth. It caught in his wrinkled skin, and he smeared it with the back of his hand. Eventually, Hux had to turn away and run back down the stairs and out of the Inn. They hurried past the person at the desk, who called out for them, but all of them knew it was no time to stop and explain. Getting in their own cars, the trio sped away.

 

* * *

 

Finn plugged the flash drive into Hux’s computer, and they watched as he brought up the files he’d taken. There were pages of word documents outlining the process of making a bot, some basic .pdf files of the same topic, and then, Kylo himself. Hux sat beside him, watching Finn clicking through everything with barely restrained worry on his face. “Is Kylo going to be alright?” he asked.

 

“Well, I don’t know for sure,” Finn said. “I’m not sure if cancelling the deletion reversed the whole thing or just...part of it. And Snoke added all this junk binary, it makes it hard to piece what’s supposed to be there and what’s not. This is gonna take me a few hours.”

 

Phasma put a hand on his shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go get some tea and try to relax. There’s nothing we can do now, either way.”

 

Hours stretched by, and Hux couldn’t help but check his phone every now and again. They left Finn in the dining room, where he’d set up everything he was going to need, and Hux paced around in the living room as Phasma stared at the wall. His knuckles were bloody. He didn’t know if it was his blood or Snoke’s, and honestly, he didn’t care either way. Every now and again, he’d pull out his phone to check it, as if a message from KYLOREN would be displayed. He read over everything, wondering how this had happened so quickly.

 

It was scary to think if he hadn’t woken up when he did, Kylo would be gone forever now. The party was still happening that night, and Hux wanted nothing to do with it. Not after everything that had happened. He felt drained, but alert, and he knew that trying to sleep would be fruitless with his worry for Kylo spiking the way it did. The little bot had made a place in his heart, whether or not he wanted him there or not. The unease he’d felt before had evaporated slowly, because...whether he wanted to admit to it or not, Hux understood him.

 

All the extra code, the inability to think for himself, his slight awkwardness. It was endearing, but Hux had gone through it as well. Anxiety plagued him, and he had so few friends it was pathetic. His father hadn’t coded him, but he’d beaten out any signs of resistance when Hux was just a small child. He’d never stood a chance. Kylo had a chance now, if Finn could recover him from that flash drive. He just hoped they weren’t too late.

 

The sun started to rise, and Hux watched yellow light spill across the living room floor. Phasma had dropped off to sleep a little while ago. He wasn’t sure exactly when he had. A short sigh left his lips, and Hux let his eyes slip closed for a few moments. The light ached behind his lids, crowding him, and he honestly felt worthless. He worked at a tech giant, but couldn’t do basic coding. He thought of what Rae would have said if she could see what he was doing.

 

“Hux?” His head lifted, and he looked over at Finn, who leaned in the doorway separating the living room and kitchen. His face slowly pulled up in a smile. “Come on. Someone wants to say hello.”

 

Shooting up to his feet, Hux thundered past Phasma, ignoring her disjointed snores, and he ran straight past Finn as well. Grabbing the seat in front of his laptop, he looked over the screen for a moment. It seemed to just be black, with a slight glow to it. Then, blue lettering typed across the screen.

 

**IT’S KYLO.**

 

His heart hammered away in his chest, and Hux put a hand over his mouth for a moment. After everything, he truly hadn’t believed that it would work. Ducking his head, he looked to the keyboard to type, but more words began forming on the screen.

 

**TALK INTO THE MIC. I CAN HEAR YOU.**

 

Hux lifted a brow, and he glanced up as Finn came over and picked up a headset to plug it in. It was fitted over his ears, and a mic placed in front of his mouth. Hux adjusted it for a second, then cleared his throat. “Kylo? Is that...it’s you, right? Really you?”

 

**YEAH, THANKS FOR SAVING ME. I FEEL A LOT BETTER NOW. FINN FIXED UP MY CODE A LITTLE, AND i CAN TAKE CARE OF THE REST. I WAS DOING FINE UNTIL SNOKE DECIDED TO CHANGE THINGS.**

 

He seemed much clearer than before, and Hux smiled despite himself. “I’m glad that you feel better. Though, the idea of you feeling at all is still a little strange to me.”

 

**I UNDERSTAND.**

 

“You’re a lot calmer now. Not going to send me anymore binary code?”

 

**NO, I’M SORRY ABOUT THAT.**

 

Hux smiled again, then adjusted the mic again. “Kylo, will you give me a second?” he asked, his voice light.

 

**SURE.**

 

Taking the headset off, Hux got up from the table and looked at Finn, who was leaning on the wall and yawning. “Thank you,” he said, quietly. “For doing this. For him. And for me. You didn’t have to.”

 

“No, it’s not a problem. I wanted to help. After everything...something about the whole situation sat wrong with me when I left. Talking to Kylo wasn’t like talking to a bot, really. I have before, and usually, you can just tell, intrinsically, that what you’re talking to isn’t human. And there were signs of bad coding affecting some things, but...there was also something about him that was more genuine, you know?”

 

“I do know.” Hux smiled, then offered his hand. Finn shook it, then turned away as another yawn took over. “I think that Phas took the couch, but you can have the guest room if you don’t want to drive back to the city. I’ll call your supervisor and let him know that you won’t be coming in on time today.”

 

Finn’s shoulders melted, and he nodded. “Thank you,” he whispered, weight in his voice, then asked for directions up to the guest room. Hux told him, also explaining that he could use the hall bathroom shower if he wanted. Finn turned to leave, then wheeled back around with a sheepish look on his face. “By the way, I had to delete a bunch of files, because Kylo is...huge.”

 

“Huge?”

 

“Like as in, he’s a huge amount of data. So I just...cleared away a bunch of old files and stuck them on that flash drive. It’s probably best if you take everything that’s not Kylo off that laptop and just...let it be his home. And that’ll keep him going through your shit if he gets bored, anyway.”

 

“Right.” Hux nodded, watching Finn walk off, but he couldn’t even really be mad about it. Walking back to the laptop, he pressed his fingers to the touchpad and moved the mouse. He was able to minimize Kylo’s window, and still be able to access his things. Putting on the headset again, Hux plugged the flash drive in and began transporting his files over.

 

**WHAT ARE YOU DOING? ARE YOU GOING TO MOVE ME AGAIN?**

 

“Um, no this is your laptop now. Think of it like...um, your apartment or something.”

 

**HOME.**

 

Hux smiled, then nodded his head. “Yeah, your home. Is it still dark?”

 

**NOT RIGHT NOW. ALL I CAN SEE IS YOU.**

 

“Me?” Hux self-consciously brushed a hand through his hair. “You’re using the webcam right now?” He could have chuckled at that, honestly having thought that Kylo just...wouldn’t. He didn’t know how he felt about always being in view of the bot. He supposed he could tape over the webcam if he didn’t want Kylo to see him, or just shut the laptop. Besides, taking away Kylo’s ability to see sounded very cruel to him.

 

**YES. I ALWAYS USE IT WHEN I CAN. SNOKE LIKED FOR ME TO WATCH THE PEOPLE I TALKED TO, SO HE GAVE ME SPYWARE. I ONLY USED IT A FEW TIMES.**

 

“Well, fuck. Did you see me when were were talking, before?”

 

**YEAH. I FEEL BAD ABOUT IT.**

 

“Don’t. It...wasn’t your idea.” Hux chewed on his bottom lip. It would certainly be strange, trying to exist with Kylo. But more and more, Kylo seemed less like a random sequence of code and more like a person. If his coding hadn’t gone haywire in the first place, there was a good chance that Hux would have never known. Snoke had accomplished what he’d set out to do, but he was too dense to see what wonder he’d created.

 

**I STILL DID IT THOUGH. YOU LOOK TIRED. MAYBE YOU SHOULD GO TO SLEEP.**

 

“I probably should. You’re right.” He laughed suddenly, rubbing at his eyes, then Hux just dropped his hands again. “Can I ask you a question first, though?”

 

**SURE.**

 

“The profile picture...on your account. Why...why did you decide to go with a man’s bare chest? You’re not even really a man, are you? You’re...you’re a bot. You have no concept of gender. Why did you decide to go with that?”

 

**YOUR INTERNET SEARCH HISTORY.**

 

“Oh.” Hux awkwardly scratched at the back of his neck. “Alright. Okay. Sure. That’s fair. Snoke’s idea?

 

**MINE.**

 

“Ah.” Hux didn’t know what to say. Or to even think about it, really. He wasn’t particularly sure why Kylo would look to something like...porn preferences to determine what he would like in a person. Especially in the way he chose to approach him. “Shows me for not clearing it out, huh?” He chuckled nervously.

 

**YEAH, OF COURSE. I JUST WANTED TO MAKE MYSELF. PALATABLE.**

 

“What? You didn’t think your stunning personality would catch my attention?” he asked, a note of soft teasing to his voice.

 

**I DON’T HAVE A PERSONALITY. I AM A BOT. I FEEL. BUT EVERYTHING I AM, EVERYTHING I DO, IS RECONSTRUCTED FROM OTHERS. I SPENT A LOT OF TIME STUDYING YOU BEFORE SNOKE CONSIDERED ME READY TO MAKE FIRST CONTACT. I READ YOUR PRESS RELEASES, SOME OLD ESSAYS YOU WROTE IN COLLEGE, LOOKED AT WHAT YOU SEARCHED ONLINE, AND CREATED A DATA PROFILE FOR YOU IN MY SERVERS. I HAD TO MAKE SURE THAT I KNEW YOU A LITTLE BIT, SO THAT I COULD ALWAYS STEER THE CONVERSATION THE RIGHT WAY.**

 

Hux actually struggled to keep up with how fast the words appeared, his eyes scanning over the lines of texts as they shot across the screen. After a moment, it seemed Kylo had finished, and Hux just sighed. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. It feels a bit like an invasion of privacy, though.”

 

**IT WAS. THAT’S WHAT SNOKE ALWAYS INTENDED FOR IT TO BE. HE WANTED TO PROVE THAT I COULD NOT ONLY BYPASS YOUR SYSTEM SECURITY BUT ALSO THAT I COULD TAKE DATA FROM YOU AND LEARN FROM IT. IT WAS MY MAIN SELLING POINT.**

 

“I have to admit, I can think of a lot of uses, just off the top of my head, for tech like you. But, don’t worry. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. You can just...exist in this laptop for as long as you want. If it breaks, I’ll take you off and put you somewhere else.” Hux smiled toward the webcam.

 

**THAT’S VERY KIND OF YOU. THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME FROM SNOKE.**

 

“It was...the right thing to do.” Hux yawned suddenly, then he scrubbed a hand back through his hair.

 

**YOU SHOULD SLEEP.**

 

“If I turn the computer off, will that make you power down?”

 

**NO, BUT IT WILL BLIND ME, UNLESS I HACK INTO A DIFFERENT WEBCAM.**

 

“Right. Well, I’ll leave it open, and put it on a charger in my room. I’m sure that Millicent will come over and say hello to you a few times. She’s always interested in open laptops.” Hux grinned, then stood up and started walking out of the kitchen. He took the stairs carefully. “Tomorrow, I’ll give you a tour of the house. The grand tour. But I have to get a few hours of shuteye. I’ve still got a party to take care of tomorrow. It’s going to be exhausting.”

 

He set the laptop up on his desk in his room and quickly plugged it into a wall socket. The battery had been close to dead anyway. Hux discreetly turned the webcam away from his bed so he wouldn’t have to think about Kylo watching him all night, then he moved back in front of it for a moment. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

 

**HAVE SWEET DREAMS.**

 

“Thank you. I would say it back, but…”

 

**I DO NOT DREAM. IT IS OKAY.**

 

“Hmm.” Hux smiled again, then pulled the headphones off. He wished that Kylo had an actual voice to speak to him through. He wished for a lot of things. Walking over to the bed, he pulled off his shirt and jeans, chucking them into the hamper, then crawling up under the bed. Millicent’s short meows as she came from under the bed made him lift his head off the pillow and smile at her. She hopped up beside him, laying in the curve of his body.

 

Hux petted her a few times before exhaustion caught up with him. He already had an alarm on his phone, and he had two other people in the house with him. Plus, Kylo, if he really should count him. Either way, a few hours of sleep was probably better than nothing.

 

A sense of accomplishment swelled in his chest as he drifted into sleep, and nothing but good dreams came to him that. Hux was grateful for that, and a peace fell over the household. A friendly energy filled every room, the warm that Hux had never truly known before.


End file.
